Disappearing Act
by Namikaze Artemis
Summary: Fame was something Albus was interested in, but fame from something he didn't do? Not so much. The last thing he wanted to be was Harry James Potter, Mark II. So what's an eleven-year old with a famous father supposed to do? Go to Hogwarts under a glamour and a pseudonym, of course.
1. Taste of Fame

A/N: So, I supposed I'm venturing into the Harry Potter fandom.

* * *

**Disappearing Act**

* * *

Chapter 1: Taste of Fame

* * *

When Albus Severus Potter was seven, he got his first taste of fame.

He hadn't liked it- or well, he hadn't liked it _much. _

His father had taken him and James to visit Diagon Alley for the first time. His mother had been against it, but Harry had insisted that they both needed to see more than the houses of relatives and family friends.

James, who had never been to Diagon Alley before either, had been beside himself with excitement when he had heard the news. Lily had wanted to go as well, but Ginny had put her foot down at that. She had refused to let Lily go just yet.

"She isn't ready for it," she had insisted.

Harry hadn't argued, respecting Ginny's wishes. He likely had agreed as well. Lily, on the hand, had thrown quite the temper tantrum. However, she had been easily subdued with the promise of being taken once_ she_ turned seven, although she had been still quite dissatisfied.

James had been somewhat irritated at the fact that _he _hadn't been taken to Diagon Alley when _he _was seven. He had kept his complaints from his parents, however, not wanting to be prevented from visiting the Alley. He had instead rattled off all his complaints to Albus, who had patiently listened.

When the day of the visit finally arrived, Harry had cast a spell over both of them, fading their dark hair to a sandy blonde and altering their jawlines in a way that made them unrecognizable enough. He had then proceeded to cast the same spell over himself. James and Albus had laughed themselves silly over their appearances for a minute or two, but had quickly shushed up once Harry gave them a pointed look.

"Don't tell people who you really are if they ask, alright? Just say your first names." Harry had instructed, crouching down to look at both of them in the eye. "There'll be problems if people find out who we are."

"How come?" Albus had asked, his innocent eyes staring up in confusion.

Harry had hesitated, before just giving them a faint smile and shrugging. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell you when you're a bit older, alright?"

James had looked a bit disgruntled at his father's non-answer, and had opened his mouth to object.

"But I-"

"- Now, we'll be going through the Floo, alright?" Harry had cut in, pointedly ignoring James' grumblings. "I'm afraid I can't side-along the both of you. You've used the Floo before, so you know what to do, right?"

James and Albus had both nodded confidently.

"Remember to pronounce it clearly," Harry had said. He had then handed James a Muggle pen, larger than most but still small enough to fit into a pocket. "This is a Portkey. If you get into trouble and need to get back home, say 'Poppysticks' while you're both holding onto it, alright?"

"We're just going to Diagon Alley! Rose said she went before and didn't have any trouble." James had grumbled, though he took the pen nevertheless.

"Just in case, alright?" Harry had smiled reassuringly. "It'll make your mother and I feel better."

Harry had insisted on getting the both of them to repeat 'Diagon Alley' three times in a row before he had been finally satisfied enough to allow them to enter the floo. One after another, they arrived at Diagon Alley.

Things had gone absolutely marvellously, at first. They had visited various shops in the Alley, and while the only thing Harry had bought for them was candy, it still had been a wonderful experience.

That is, until Harry had spotted a pickpocket.

"Go inside and bother your uncle," Harry had told the two of them, leaving them in front of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and racing towards the pickpocket. Harry had been quickly swallowed up by the crowd.

"As if," James had said after a short moment. He had shot Albus a wicked smile. "Wanna go see what Dad's doing?"

"We should listen to Dad," Albus had objected.

"C'mon, Al," James had wheedled. "We never see what sort of things Dad's doing as an Auror. I mean, sure, I guess this isn't as awesome as him duelling a dark wizard or something, but it's _something_."

"I don't think-" Albus had started.

"Oop, too late, I'm going," James had said cheerfully, setting out into the crowd. For a brief moment, Albus had considered staying where he was, but he had only been eight. He hadn't wanted to enter a relatively unfamiliar shop on his own. He had darted after James.

"You don't even know where you're going!" Albus had said, frustrated.

"_You're _the pickpocket! You're just pinning the crime on me!" a loud, haughty voice had sounded from somewhere to the right.

"There?" James had suggested with another grin. The two of them had struggled through the crowd towards the sound of the voice. Finally, they had reached a place where the crowd was surrounding three men in a circle; one of them Harry. Unfortunately, they hadn't quite realized that there was a small open space in the middle of the crowd, and had ended up stumbling right into their father.

"Sir, why would I pickpocket someone just to return their money bag later o- _Albus? James?_"

"Hi, Dad," James had said bravely. Albus had just gulped at the freezing glare shot in their direction.

"Albus and James? And you're apparently a Harry…" a man had said questioningly, the owner of the haughty voice from earlier. His eyes had brightened dangerously.

"_Finite Incantem!"_ the man had shouted, whipping out his wand and shooting the spell point-blank towards James and Albus. Harry, his body moving automatically, had taken the spell instead, his glamour fading. The man had started to run into the crowd, shouting something on his way. "Harry Potter! Harry Potter's in Diagon Alley with his _sons_!"

Harry had said a few choice words that Ginny had told them not to say.

"James! Portkey. Now. I'll follow later." Harry had hissed, moments before the crowd closed in.

Somehow, the two of them had managed to grab ahold of the portkey and activate it. The world had appeared to twist into a maelstrom of different colours, and Albus had felt terribly squished. Just when he had been starting to worry about suffocating, the ordeal ended and the two of them landed in the living room of their house. He had let go of the pen and had heard it clatter to the ground.

James had placed his hand over his mouth, attempting to prevent himself from throwing up. Albus hadn't felt that well either, but luckily had no urge to throw up.

Harry had apparated into the living room a few moments later. Albus and James had stared up at Harry silently for a few awkward moments.

"I think that if we go to Diagon Alley again," Harry had said finally, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It'd be best if we brought along your mother as well. She'll be responsible enough for the three of us. I'm sorry you had to see that."

But, Albus had admitted something to himself, later that day when he had reflected on the experience. It was true that all those people crowding around had been scary- downright terrifying, even. But the idea that all those people had gotten all worked up because of just one person…

… that was interesting.

* * *

When Albus Severus Potter was nine, he got his first major doubts about fame.

It had been summertime, when James had just returned from his first year at Hogwarts. Albus and James had remained close enough, although James still had been prone to occasionally teasing him. Lily, on the other hand, had decided a few months ago that 'boys were icky' and had spent most of her time with her cousins Rose and Roxanne.

"C'mon, tell me more about Hogwarts!" Albus had whined, tugging at James' sleeve in an attempt to stop him from heading up the stairs. "You barely said anything in your letters- I mean, when you sent them at all."

"I knew Dad and Mum would read all the letters I sent you," James had muttered, walking towards his room. Albus had followed him. Once the two of them entered James' room, James had closed his door softly and sat down onto the bed, gesturing for Albus to sit on his chair.

Albus had obliged, all while blinking in confusion.

"It's just…" James had sighed. "Look, everyone, they look at me, and they don't see_ me_. You and Lily are the only ones that really do, and even Lily is starting to see something else; from the letters Fred sent to Roxanne, I'd bet."

"What do you mean?" Albus had asked, ever patiently. "Who would they see?"

"Dad." James had said, before pausing and shaking his head, sighing again. "No, not Dad. They see Dad's dad. Our grandpa."

"No one even knows what he was like, really- not even Dad, not really, right?" Albus had pointed out. "Just because you share a name with him doesn't mean people expect you to _be _him. Are you sure you're not being para-"

"I'm _not!_" James had said irritably, eyes flashing. "Besides, some of the professors remember, and they're the worst. They're all like 'Be careful not to get into too much trouble, James,' and 'Chip off the old block, aren't you?', even though I _haven't done a thing. _And Fred wants me to be a 'prankster' with him, bothered me about it the entire year- honestly, what's so fascinating about making a few people's heads blue, I can't understand."

Albus had nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess I can see that."

"Dad and Mum are bad too; y'know that Dad gave me the Marauder's Map at the start of the year, right?" James had waited for Albus to nod before continuing, "Well, even though he told me not to use it for anything bad when he gave it to me, when I came back today, he asked me why I didn't use it to get up to any hijinks with Fred! And Mum, you heard her today, right? Talking about how Fred and I were a wonderful new generation of pranksters, but to not get into too much trouble from now on."

"Well…" Albus had said hesitantly. "Maybe if you told Mum and Dad that… and I mean, it's not like the whole school-"

"-It is," James had cut in. "Everyone in that school looks at me and sees _James Potter, prankster extraordinaire. _I tried talking with a couple people in Gryffindor I thought I was friends with, but when I even started to suggest that I wasn't like my image, they stared at me like I was an alien in outer space."

"But didn't you get into a lot of trouble this year?" Albus had asked curiously. "I remember Mum complaining about it."

"I got into a few detentions because I was late for morning classes too much- you know how I am with waking up in the morning- and a couple because Fred did something _and the teachers assumed I was involved._" James had gritted his teeth. "Just because he wants to make his father proud by being an infamous prankster- and his pranks are pretty lame, anyways, since he's just in first year and we barely know anything- doesn't mean he has to drag me into it."

James had sighed. "Sorry for ranting at you, I just was looking forwards to letting it all out."

His eyes had widened suddenly and he had grabbed Albus by the shoulders. "You don't… you aren't disappointed I'm not like that, are you?"

"Of course not," Albus had said simply, smiling. James had drawn back, letting out a soft breath. "But I still think that Mum and Dad would understand-"

James had shaken his head firmly. "No. They want me to be their image of a perfect unruly Gryffindor, and I don't want them to look at me disappointedly. Just- I wanted to warn you. That that's the way things are probably going to be for you too… if you get into Gryffindor."

"Are you saying that I shouldn't be in Gryffindor?" Albus had asked.

"I'd love to have my snot-nosed little brother be in Gryffindor to tease," James had said with a mocking grin. "But you've never seemed very Gryffindor to me, and if you're in, say, Ravenclaw, people's automatic image of you will change. And that's good."

"Maybe I'll go for Slytherin then," Albus had suggested teasingly.

"That's going too far the other direction," James had insisted, taking Albus' half-joking suggestion seriously. "You don't know what it's like for Slytherins in Hogwarts. When I'm a prefect, I'll fix things. Sure, there're a couple older kids that seem pretty Dark in Slytherin, I guess, but they don't _enter _there like that, I'm sure! There's even some Muggleborn Slytherins now, so they can't be as hung up about Pureblood Supremacy as everyone says they are."

"Dad always said stuff like that too, but Mum and Uncle Ron always-"

"Mum and Uncle Ron are wrong," James had declared firmly. "Once you get to Hogwarts, you'll see too."

Albus had nodded solemnly. After sitting in silence for a moment or two, James had switched the topic to something lighter.

James' talk had made him realize something. Fame was alluring, but he didn't want fame from things he didn't do. And if he was famous because of something his Dad did- which he still didn't know what, annoyingly- that was just no fun.

* * *

When Albus Severus Potter was ten, he decided that he didn't want to go to Hogwarts.

Or rather, he didn't want to go to Hogwarts as himself. Yet another year had passed, and James had been full with more stories of unfairness and mistaken assumptions. Albus didn't want to be judged before people even knew him- so the logical answer was to be someone that people wouldn't make automatic judgements about.

Albus had told James his idea. James had supported it, as Albus had hoped he would, and had insisted that Albus had to try to get Dad to help him out with it.

Harry had been hesitant at first, but he had promised to talk to the Headmistress about it. After a few weeks of chewing his fingernails in anticipation, Harry had gotten back to him on the topic. He had said that the Headmistress had understood how Albus wanted to get away from the fame, and had agreed to allow him to enter Hogwarts with a pseudonym. Harry had told him that he supported the idea too, as he had wanted to get away from _his _fame as a child. But he had also warned Albus that he would have to deal with it eventually, as he would have to take his OWLs and NEWTs as himself, at the very least.

Ginny hadn't been as accepting of the idea, thinking that it was silly to go to such lengths. Harry had managed to talk her over eventually, however.

Harry had even paid for an anklet- less conspicuous than a bracelet, he had said- inscribed with runes that would do the same as a glamour, without the danger of unexpectedly disappearing.

And so, when Albus Severus Potter was eleven, he went to Hogwarts for the first time.

His hair had faded to a dirty blond and his nose had been lengthened and flattened. While his eyes were still green, they were no longer as striking- they were closer to hazel if anything.

And his name was Alfred Stevens.

* * *

A/N: I'm a fan of the fan-favourite Next Gen characterizations as the next person, but I wanted to see it mixed up a bit. See, for some reason there's a lot of variety if you look for it with Albus, with him in anything from Hufflepuff to Ravenclaw (although Slytherin is predominant), but other characters' characterizations seem to have a lot less variation.

So here's a Slytherin-supporting, nice older brother James to start off with. We'll see Rose and Scorpius for sure next chapter, and maybe a few other interesting characters.

Leave a comment if you enjoyed.


	2. Hogwarts Express

**A/N: I went and looked up what Ollivander says about certain wand woods and cores on Pottermore when selecting a wand type for Al; the descriptions might help you see what I have planned for the kid. Vaguely.**

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Chapter 2: Hogwarts Express

* * *

It was finally the first day of the new school year. Both Albus and James had gone and gotten their supplies a few days back. Getting his wand was the most exciting part; it was now safely packed into a pocket in his robes. Eleven inches, aspen with a dragon heartstring core. Excellent for duelling and charmwork, Mr. Ollivander had said.

His dad had also gotten him a pet; he had really wanted a fierce white ferret he had spotted in the store, but Harry had reminded him that he could only bring a cat, an owl, or a toad. Albus had settled on a female grey tabby cat; he had told Harry that he had picked her because of her fighting spirit, but her adorableness did play a small part in his decision. Albus had wondered what to name her until Harry had suggested that he look in his new books for an appropriate name. Eventually, he had decided on Antares, after a star in his Astrology textbook.

Albus said his goodbyes to his Mum and Lily at home, all while being reminded that he could back out whenever he wanted. James, who was still annoyed that Albus refused to tell him his fake name or even show him his glamour, stuck out his tongue before informing Albus that he'd figure him out within a week.

Albus just smirked combatively and dared him to try.

After awkwardly dealing with their tearful goodbyes- and holding back a few tears himself, if he was being honest- Harry side-along apparated Albus to King's Cross, once both of them had disguised themselves appropriately. They arrived in what appeared to be a somewhat grungy bathroom. Albus would later learn that the place had a strong Muggle Repellent charm cast upon it so wizards could apparate into the station without breaking the Statute of Secrecy.

Harry took out Albus's shrunken luggage from his pocket and un-shrunk it with a tap of his wand. The two of them headed out of the bathroom and found a cart to move his luggage. Albus put Antares' cage on the very top, so she wouldn't feel squished. Her cage had been the only thing that they hadn't shrunk, as shrinking animals wasn't the best idea.

"Send as many letters as you want to, alright?" Harry said reassuringly as they walked towards the entrance to Platform 9¾ . "You can borrow the school owls whenever you'd like."

"I know, I know." Albus nodded. He hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Um, Dad?"

"Yes, Al?"

"What if, um." Albus fidgeted. "What if I'm in Slytherin? Will you and Mum be angry?"

"I won't be angry just because you were sorted into a house that was the best for you," Harry said firmly, stopping to crouch down and look at Albus in the eyes. "And if your mother is unhappy, I'll talk her over, alright? There's nothing wrong with Sly-"

"- I know!" Albus blurted out. "James has told me that enough. It's just, I don't want everyone to hate me because I end up there."

"No one is going to hate you bec-" Harry cut himself off, paused, then rephrased his words. "No one in our family is going to hate you just because you're Slytherin. I was nearly in Slytherin myself, did you know that?"

"Really?"

"Really." Harry smiled and patted Albus' shoulder. "Anyways, you're getting ahead of yourself. I could see you in any house, really. And I'm sure you'll do wonderfully in whichever house you end up in."

Albus nodded doubtfully.

"You'd better get a move on. Don't want to be late for the train." Harry playfully gave Albus a light push forwards.

Albus nodded again, this time slightly more confidently. He could do this. He would do well in Hogwarts, and he would make his parents proud.

He would make his own name.

* * *

James glanced out the window as the train began to move forwards, scenery blurring as they picked up speed. He briefly fantasized about punching the boy walking in front of him in the face. Merlin's beard, would that be satisfying.

"Jamie, something the matter?"

James gave the boy what he hoped seemed like a genuine smile. "No, no, of course not, Geoffrey. Just thinking about my little brother. He starts this year, y'know?"

Geoffrey laughed, too loudly. "Going to mess with him, are you? Tell me what you do."

Giving up on acting completely natural, James just gave him a tight nod.

Geoffrey Podmore was a half-blood and a member of a family that had been 'on the side of the Light for as long as anyone can trace back', as he so often liked to say. With muddy brown eyes and short brown hair, his appearance was as plain as could be. But somehow, he still had the 'friendship'- if you could call it that- of most second and third-year non-Slytherins, and James had no doubt that this year's first-years would fall under his thrall as well.

He couldn't stand the git.

Unfortunately, Podmore wanted to be 'friends' with him to use the Potter name, and James didn't have the patience or the temperament to try to build up enough influence to escape Podmore's grasp. He had tried to straight-out cut his ties in first year, and boy, had that been a terrible two weeks until he had caved and started hanging out with Podmore again.

He often thought vindictively that Podmore would've made a good Slytherin.

Still, he did what he could to make things difficult for the wanker when he could.

"We'd better go look for Fred," James said. Fred was alright, when he wasn't trying to drag him into some weirdo scheme or another. Too bad he worshiped the ground Podmore walked on.

Alright, maybe that was going a bit far, but they _were_ good friends.

"He can find us," Podmore replied dismissively. "Let's just sit down."

Podmore opened a door randomly. James winced when he saw that its occupants were Slytherins- fourth year, maybe?

"Hey, get out," Podmore ordered. The Slytherins looked up at Podmore, incredulously at first, but then with a hint of nervousness.

"Find your own compartment," one of them said sharply. James mentally commended the girl for her courage, even if Slytherins probably wouldn't see the trait as a commendable. "We were here first, third-years."

Podmore laughed, and James had to hold back another wince at the sound.

"You're really gonna chase out me… and _James Potter_?" Podmore gestured towards him, and James swallowed down the bile coming up his throat at the sight of the Slytherins paling.

He was a _Gryffindor_, for the love of Merlin; he had to work up the courage to do _something._

"Oh, hey!" James said quickly, pretending to glance down the hallway. "I think I just saw Fred enter a compartment. Let's go see."

James didn't drag Podmore out of the compartment, but it was a close thing. He needed to buy himself some Chocolate Frogs later to reward himself for his awesome self-control. Thankfully, Podmore followed him without any complaints.

They passed by a lost-looking blond-haired firstie on the way, but James didn't pay him any heed. He was busy trying to think up an excuse for when Fred would inevitably _not _be in the compartment.

James opened the compartment, hoping that at the very least it wouldn't be more Slytherins. Much to his relief, the occupants were Gryffindors; and amazingly enough, one of them was Fred.

Merlin, he was lucky.

"Hey, Fred!" James said, grinning brightly. "We were looking for you!"

"Should've waited for us before you got on the train," Podmore complained, entering the compartment and sitting down, the other Gryffindors shifting aside to give him space. James slid into an empty space as well before someone else grabbed it.

James sighed. Another year at Hogwarts. Another year trying to help people without pissing off Gryffindors.

(Another year of failures. )

* * *

Albus' eyes widened when he passed James, and almost called out to him, catching himself just in time. He shook his head. He needed to be able to do this by himself, especially now that he couldn't rely on his large number of extended relatives at the school.

He nodded firmly. He would go find some first years, and make friends with them. Everyone made friends with who they sat with on the train, that's what everyone always said. This was important.

Albus peeked into a few compartments before he found a compartment that seemed to contain first-years. There were two- a blonde tallish girl, and a black-haired shorter guy. While they didn't seem the friendliest sort, he knew that he shouldn't judge them by their appearances. Steeling himself, he slid the door open.

"Hi!" Albus said cheerfully. "Could I sit with you? This is the first open compartment I've found."

The girl shrugged.

"If you want to," she said dismissively. Albus decided to take that as a resounding yes and plopped himself down across from her.

"So, what's your names? I'm Al-Alfred Stevens," Albus introduced himself, stumbling a bit over the unfamiliar name. He hoped it hadn't been that noticeable.

"… You're a M-Muggleborn?" the boy asked. Albus wondered if he was nervous, stuttering like that.

"Yeah," Albus replied. He wasn't really, of course- his closest Muggle relatives were his great-great grandparents- but it was easiest to pretend he was a Muggleborn. Less chance of being found out; the Wizarding World was pretty small, after all, and a half-blood or pureblood popping out of nowhere would draw attention. Harry had heavily warned him to not seem too familiar with the Wizarding World, though.

"…Darian Rowle," the boy said finally, before looking back out the window.

Letting out an exasperated sigh at Albus' questioning look, the girl rolled her eyes and finally introduced herself.

"Arqa Travers," she said with a slight sneer. "Don't ask me questions, alright? I don't really feel like answering a bunch of nosy questions from a Mu-Muggleborn right now."

Travers… Rowle… he recognized those names. Albus frowned for a second, before it clicked. Those were Death Eater families. Merlin's beard, he was in a compartment with a bunch of Death Eaters' kids.

No, no, he couldn't think like that. Besides, most Death Eaters were in Azkaban. These kids must be just related to them distantly or something. Besides, you couldn't help your relatives, right?

Still, they hadn't exactly been welcoming to someone they thought was Muggleborn. Maybe he should check to see if they seemed to be blood purists.

"Ouch, that hurts," Albus said lightly. "I wouldn't really ask many questions, I already know a lot from books and stuff. What are you, a blood purist?"

Albus laughed light-heartedly enough, but he could feel the atmosphere in the compartment had suddenly become stifling.

Rowle laughed stiffly. "Of course not, what does that and this have to do with anything? Arqa's just feeling a bit irritated today, that's all, _right?_"

"Right," Travers said through slightly gritted teeth. She gave Albus an insincere smile. "It's just one of those days, you understand, don't you? But I'll answer your questions if you really want me to, uh, Steveston."

"Stevens," Albus corrected, before shaking his head and getting. "Thanks, but no thanks. I think I'll, erm, go find another compartment. The chairs here are a bit- u-uncomfortable."

Albus fled from the compartment.

Just his luck. First compartment he went to was full of (probable) blood purists. He couldn't do anything right, could he?

He didn't really want to jinx anything further- he had also heard stories that everyone often met their rival on the train too, after all. He would just try to find an empty compartment. That would do.

Unfortunately, Albus found no empty compartments even after walking from one end of the train to the other, and he really wanted to sit down already.

Sighing, he decided to settle for that compartment he had spotted with only one kid in it. Albus just had to not really talk to the kid, and he was sure everything was fine. The other kid had seemed pretty engrossed in his book, after all.

Albus slid the door open and poked his head in.

"Hi, um, could I sit here?" Albus asked nervously.

The kid, who had unusual platinum blond hair, glanced up from his book for a moment. He looked surprised. He then shrugged and nodded before returning to his book.

Albus shuffled into the compartment and sat down across from him. He suddenly wished he had thought to bring a book as well, but his were all packed away in his trunk. His eyes landed on the small pile of books next to the book. He stared at them longingly.

Merlin, he was bored. He opened his mouth to speak, but-

-The boy looked at him and sighed. He offered Albus one of the books at his side- _Jinxes for the Jinxed_, the title said.

"If I lend you this," the boy said, his voice quiet but firm. "Will you not try to make conversation?"

"Sure!" Albus said, accepting the book. Some of his earlier cheer returned at the gesture of kindness, even if it was only done because the boy didn't want to deal with him. Besides, he liked books well enough, and this book seemed pretty interesting.

The two of them read in silence for the rest of the trip, interrupted only when a lady came by with the sweets trolley. Before he realized it, the train was nearing Hogsmeade Station.

"Um, thanks," Albus said, reluctantly offering the book back to the other boy. He'd really like to finish it, but he couldn't borrow it forever.

Perhaps some of his disappointment showed on his face, because the boy just sighed again.

"I've already finished that book," the boy said, closing his own book and putting it to the side. "If you don't mind borrowing something from a _Malfoy_, then you're welcome to borrow it for a little while longer."

The boy looked at him combatively, an eyebrow raised.

Albus blinked. Malfoy, that sounded familiar. It was probably a Death Eater family, judging from how the boy seemed to expect him to go running out screaming from the compartment.

Still, a Muggleborn wouldn't know that.

"Alright," Albus replied with a grin, putting the book into a robe pocket. "Is that your name? Malfoy? It's nice to meet you."

The boy looked confused for a moment, before his expression cleared. "Oh, you must be a Muggleborn. That explains things."

"Yeah. Alfred Stevens." Albus stuck out a hand for him to shake. "Everyone calls me, uh, Al- Fre-, erm…"

Too late, Albus realized he probably shouldn't go around telling people to call him Al.

"Alfreh?" the boy repeated, an air of incredulity around him. He let out a snicker. "Alfreh... what sort of nickname is that?"

Albus flushed, retracting his hand.

"No, no, trust me, I'm not one to talk." the boy assured him, a smile on his face. He seemed awfully receptive to conversation considering that he'd bribed Albus to stay quiet for most of the trip. "My name's Scorpius Malfoy."

Malfoy stuck out his own hand towards Albus.

"Nice to- nice to meet you?" Malfoy said, his voice sounding hesitant. Maybe that was why he had shied away from conversation at first? He had been afraid of being rejected?

Albus mentally shrugged. It didn't matter now- this meant he had made a friend on the train! He hadn't messed up after all!

He grasped Malfoy's hand firmly.

"Right back at you," Albus replied, grinning.

* * *

**A/N: I know I promised Rose in this chapter, but James got in the way. We'll see her in the next for sure, though.**

**I'm also afraid things are not going to be all fine and dandy right away between Scorpius and Albus too, despite how it may seem. You'll see.**


	3. Welcoming Feast

**A/N: The reasoning behind all of the characters' houses will be eventually explained.**

* * *

Chapter 3: Welcoming Feast

* * *

Albus shuffled nervously, staring up at the large doors leading to Hogwarts. Once the train had arrived at Hogsmeade Station, he, along with the rest of the first years, had piled onto the small boats and sailed towards the castle. He had been in a boat with Malfoy and two others. Maybe it had been Malfoy's presence, but they hadn't really seemed talkative.

Once they had crossed the lake, Professor Flitwick had welcomed all of them to Hogwarts and prattled on about the school and the Sorting. It honestly had gone through one ear through another. Albus was feeling sicker by the second.

Now, he was standing with a crowd of first years in the Great Hall, gawking at the room along with the rest of them. Albus may have had heard stories of the place, but it was different seeing it in person. Now that he was finally here, he was starting to get nervous. Maybe he should've just gone as himself after all- at least then he could've stood with Rose and had help from James later. Then again, Rose looked even more stressed than him from what he could see, so she probably wouldn't have helped much.

Albus didn't have a clue how the Sorting would happen. James hinted at having to do a difficult magical test of some sort, but he knew that he couldn't trust James about things like this. It probably had to do with the stool in front of the professors' table, he bet. Did they have to sit on the stool one by one and answer questions from the professors' table, in front of the entire school? Merlin, he hoped not.

Professor Flitwick placed a tattered old hat on top of the stool. Albus blinked. A hat? Would they have to wear it? He hoped he wouldn't get lice.

A second later, the hat began to sing, of all things. The first years stood in silence- from shock, or disbelief, he didn't know- waiting for the so-called Sorting Hat to finish its song of the merits of each House.

"I'll now call each of you up in alphabetical order. You'll have to sit down and put on the Sorting Hat to be sorted," Flitwick explained, glancing at a parchment in his hand. "Ackerman, Grace!"

Oh, what if the Sorting Hat could tell he wasn't who he said he was and refused to sort him because of that?

No, he was being stupid. The Headmistress wouldn't have allowed this if she had thought something might've gone wrong. He needed to calm down and think about things logically.

Albus took a deep breath and watched as all of the first years before him were sorted.

One Grace Dearbon went to Hufflepuff.

One Maurice Thicknesse headed over to Ravenclaw.

After sitting under the hat for what seemed like a long while, Malfoy went to Gryffindor, of all places. Albus felt terrible on his behalf at the lack of applause.

Darian Rowle, who he recognized from the train, went into Ravenclaw; not Slytherin, surprisingly.

Finally, it was his turn.

"Stevens, Alfred!"

Albus walked up to the stool with stiff movements and clenched fists. Seconds after he sat himself down, he felt Flitwick place the Sorting Hat on his head.

'_A healthy interest in knowledge; you would do well enough in Ravenclaw, perhaps… but your sense of ambition is nothing to scoff at. Hm, yes, I suppose it will have to be-'_

Wait, the Sorting Hat talked?

Wait, was the Sorting Hat trying to put him in-

"SLYTHERIN!"

Great. Albus felt sick at the idea of what his mother and Uncle Ron would say. Then again, at least Uncle Ron wouldn't have to know, he supposed. There was no way Harry would agree to keep such a secret from Ginny, though.

The students at the Slytherin table- his new housemates, Albus supposed- clapped politely. The rest of the Houses ignored him. He couldn't hold back the sense of relief he felt. If he had come up here as Albus Potter, Albus had no doubt that he would've gotten just as chilly a welcome as Malfoy. As it was, the worst that would happen was discrimination based on his blood status.

Though, that was pretty bad in itself. At least he could weed out the people he wouldn't want to hang out with.

Albus hopped off the stool and shuffled over to the Slytherin table. He had only been half-paying attention to the Sorting as a whole, so he wasn't entirely certain who his fellow first-year Slytherins were. Luckily, he could at the very least spot them out from the crowd.

He sat down next to a small light-haired boy who seemed to be even more panicked than he was. The boy's head was clenched in his hands so tightly his knuckles were white.

"…Hi?" Albus tried, tapping the boy on his shoulder. There was no response.

"Don't bother with him," said an older girl sitting somewhere across to Albus. She shot a somewhat friendly smile at Albus. "Xia Mulciber. I'm a prefect."

"What's wrong with him?" Albus asked.

"Panic attack over the fact that he's in Slytherin, no doubt," Mulciber replied in a dismissive tone. "There's always a couple like that most years. He'll get over it."

"You don't _understand_," the boy said, his voice strangled. He finally pulled his hands away from his head and looked up. "I'm a _Vance_. My aunt was murdered by Death Eaters. I _can't _be a Slytherin, I'll be disowned! Maybe people from Death Eater families like _you _don-"

"-I'm going to stop you there, Vance," Mulciber said coldly. Her gaze was freezing. "I'll tell you this now, you _don't _bring up people's families in Slytherin, not anymore. We get enough crap from the rest of the school to get worked up over who was Light and who was Dark, who's Muggleborn and who's pureblood. You got sorted here, deal with it. You're stuck."

Albus took his attention away from the argument for a moment to watch Rose's sorting. She ended up in Ravenclaw- he supposed that made sense, considering how smart Uncle Ron always said she was. She hadn't really seemed the Ravenclaw type to him, though, but Albus guessed the Sorting Hat knew best.

He turned his attention back to the argument.

"I'm _not_ a Slytherin!" Vance hissed, unperturbed by Mulciber's glare. "I'm not evil, and I'm not a blood purist!"

"Well, you sorta are now," softly interrupted a pale-faced, black-haired boy sitting across from Vance. He was a first year as well, if Albus remembered correctly.

"Evil and a blood purist?" Vance repeated himself, looking horrified.

"No!" the pale-faced boy said, shaking his head firmly. "I meant that you're a Slytherin."

"Exactly." Mulciber nodded, shooting the boy an approving look. "And besides, nowadays, you're only in Slytherin if you're _very _Slytherin-like or you're too slow to voice your objections to the Sorting Hat. Most people don't want to be in Slytherin, after all. I'm betting on the latter for you, Vance."

Vance looked offended, but Albus cut in before he could say anything more.

"I'm a Muggleborn, y'know." Albus was going to milk his fake blood status for what it was worth. Especially if he was going to make the effort to act like he didn't know much about the magical world. "If Slytherins were all blood purists and evil, surely I wouldn't be here?"

"And there are Muggleborns in other years, too," Mulciber added. "Not to mention, half-bloods are more common than purebloods in Slytherin now."

"Half-bloods are more common everywhere," Vance muttered contrarily. He seemed somewhat placated, however.

The pale-faced boy from earlier opened his mouth to say something, but was drowned out by Flitwick loudly declaring the Sorting to be over.

The headmistress, McGonagall, stood up from her seat and cleared her throat. The Hall grew silent, waiting for her to finish speaking.

"I'll be brief," McGonagall said drily. "Although this may come as a shock to some, it is still forbidden for students to enter the Forbidden Forest. Magic in the corridors is also forbidden. First years will be informed of more in-depth rules by their prefects. On that note, I'll let you all go enjoy the Feast."

As soon as the headmistress sat down, food of all kinds appeared on the table in front of them all. Vance, who had been resting his head on the table, yelped and flinched backwards as a plate full of sausages appeared inches from his nose.

Albus helped himself to a plateful of spaghetti and a few pieces of garlic bread, to start out with.

"So-" Albus swallowed a mouthful of food before looking around at the rest of the first years at the table. There seemed to be six, including him. "- should we introduce ourselves? We'll probably be spending a lot of time together."

Albus did his best to give everyone a disarming smile.

"Chris Lu," said the pale-faced boy from earlier. "I'm a half-blood, and-"

"-why do you have to mention your blood status?" Vance said accusatorily, glaring at Lu and crossing his arms. "Do yo-"

"- Merlin, you're sensitive," groaned a dark-skinned girl. "I'm already looking forwards to spending seven years of classes with you. We just won't mention our blood status then, happy now? My name's Melanie Dolohov, real pleasure to meet you."

Vance shut his mouth, still looking slightly disgruntled. One by one, the rest of the first years, including himself, introduced themselves. As well as Lu, Dolohov, and Vance (whose first name was apparently Timothy), there was another boy named Quinn Hopkirk, and one other girl named Emily Wilbur.

They engaged in casual conversation for the rest of the feast, even though Vance still seemed somewhat wary of talking with the 'evil Slytherins'. None of them seemed to be blood purists, thankfully- maybe all the blood purists went to different Houses now? The two purebloods from the train had both gone to Ravenclaw, after all. Albus bet that if someone was a blood purist and wanted to keep it quiet, the last place they'd want to be was Slytherin.

In any case, most of his housemates in his year seemed decent enough, aside from Vance, who was a bit of a ponce. Once everyone in the Hall had eaten their fill, Headmistress McGonagall dismissed everyone. Mulciber, the prefect from earlier, told everyone to follow her to the Slytherin dormitories, which turned out to be in the dungeons. The password had been 'Schadenfreude', which Albus could barely pronounce, let alone spell. Was that the point? Using a strangely spelt word to prevent people from writing down the password and losing it?

He was probably looking too much in it. A more likely scenario was that the older students just wanted to harass the younger ones for a couple weeks until the password was changed.

His luggage had been placed on one of the beds in the dormitories. While the beds were all bunk beds, there were so few male first years each of them could have a whole bunk bed to themselves. Albus suspected the girls could probably each have a room to themselves.

His first action once reaching his bed was to let Antares- who had been mewling despondently at him at that point- free. He then took out her feeding bowl and filled it with some cat food he had brought with him. His father had said that the house elves gave food to students' pets as long as there was a bowl, so he hadn't brought much with him.

"You have a cat?" Lu asked curiously. "I didn't bring a pet, parents said I wouldn't be able to take care of one. What's his name?"

"Antares," Albus replied, petting Antares on the head. "Got it from our Astrology textbook. And it's a she, not a he."

"I don't like cats," Vance grumbled.

"You don't seem to like anything, Vance," Hopkirk shot back, rolling his eyes. "Consider yourself lucky my parents don't like cats, or I wouldn't have bought an owl."

"I like plenty of things," Vance muttered. "Just not in Slytherin."

"C-can I… um," Lu started hesitantly, staring at Antares. "That is, um,"

Albus took pity on his fellow first year. "You want to pet her? Be careful though, she's fierce."

Hopkirk let out a chuckle, which turned into a badly disguised cough when Albus turned to glare at him. Antares _was_ fierce! Even if she hadn't really done much to show how fierce she was yet. Even if she was pretty adorable. No wait, he meant admirable. Antares was a brave warrior, not a cuddly kitten. Okay, she was a kitten, bu-

"Well, I'm going to sleep," Vance declared, cutting into his thoughts. Much to Albus' displeasure, he was sleeping in the bunk bed across from him. "Try not to make too much noise."

"Did you hear that, guys?" Hopkirk said brightly. "He said that we should make as much noise as possible."

"Real funny," Vance muttered, sliding into the bottom bunk of his bed.

"I think I'm going to bed too, actually," Lu said regretfully, pulling his hand back from Antares' fur and standing up.

"G'night," Albus said.

Honestly though, Albus was getting pretty tired as well. He quickly cleaned up and changed for bed.

As he fell asleep, Albus pointedly avoided thinking about telling his parents which house he had been Sorted into.

* * *

James was irritated.

He honestly didn't have much of a clue who Albus was. He knew he could rule out all of the kids with names he recognized, but there were still a fair number of Muggleborns and/or half-bloods with Muggle names. When he had declared to Albus that he would figure him out within the week, he hadn't quite remembered that he barely ever had any reason to interact with the first years, especially from the other Houses. The Sorting had been his only real chance.

James had talked with the Gryffindor first years, briefly, but none of them had struck him as Albus-like, and he hadn't really expected Albus to be in Gryffindor anyways. He would have to find a way to talk with the Ravenclaw and Slytherin first years, somehow. Without letting it slip that Albus was at the school.

He had been interrogated enough during the Welcoming Feast about where his brother was. If he hadn't let slip the fact that he expected his brother to be at Hogwarts this year to that git Podmore, he may have been able to talk his way out of the situation better, but as it was…

Somehow, he had managed to placate everyone by claiming he hadn't a clue what was going on, and that he would send an owl to his father as soon as possible. Merlin, what was he supposed to say? It was all well and good for Albus to want to escape the fame, but he _had it_, and that meant that people would expect him to be at Hogwarts. Both Rose and Victoire had come bothering him about it too,

At this rate, people would say Albus was a Squib, and that made him feel indignant on Albus' behalf. James was sure that Albus would blow everyone in his year out of the water- he sure didn't deserve to be called a Squib. He was _his _little brother, after all.

He had sent a letter to his parents on the subject, so James supposed that he would have to wait for the reply. James had tried to send an owl to Albus too, but the owl had just looked at him irritably, as much as an owl could look irritable. He probably needed to know the name associated with Albus' disguising spell for the owl to be able to reach him.

James sighed. He would deal with all of this tomorrow. Right now, he was tired, and he needed to sleep. He would need every drop of sleep he could get; James bet that Fred had some prank or other planned for the first week of school. Maybe this time he'd be able to talk Fred out of it.

* * *

Albus woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of crying.

It was coming from across from him- so, Vance, then. He probably wouldn't appreciate Albus trying to help in any way. It would be too embarrassing.

Still, he felt a bit bad for his fellow first-year. Vance had mentioned that he could be disowned. While he could've just been exaggerating, James had told him about one second-year student from a Light family who _had _been disowned just for landing in Slytherin. It was perfectly possible that the whole situation was pretty frightening for Vance.

That being said, Vance had been kinda annoying.

Sighing softly, Albus decided to at least try to be nice to his housemate if Vance did end up having troubles with his family. He barely knew the guy, after all; it was perfectly possible that Vance was a decent guy when not dealing with 'evil Slytherins'.

Turning over in his bed, Albus tried to get back to sleep.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, Rose appeared, she just didn't have any lines. That will be remedied once they have classes next chapter.**

**Leave a comment if you enjoyed.**


	4. First Classes

Chapter 4: First Classes

* * *

Albus was practically bouncing off the walls all the way down to the Great Hall. It was the first day of classes- first day of _magic. _Maybe Slytherins were supposed to be more "composed" and "calm", but Albus couldn't care one whit about that. He was Alfred Stevens to be himself, and he swore to be himself no matter what House he was in. Besides, being excited about magic helped his cover, right?

He had woken up in the morning at around the same time as everyone else, save Vance. Vance had already been gone by the time Albus opened his eyes. Early risers were weird. The rest of the first-year Slytherins had ended up heading down together.

Albus burst into the Great Hall and nearly skipped to the Slytherin table, much to Hopkirk's chagrin.

"Do- do you have to be so… _loud_?" Hopkirk hissed at Albus once they had settled themselves down.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Albus lied. He could guess exactly what Hopkirk meant. "I've barely said anything all morning, really. Morning, Vance."

Vance gave an irritated grunt in response. He didn't seem too happy that Albus had made a beeline towards him. He would get over it, Albus was sure.

"That's not what I meant," Hopkirk shot back, frustrated. "Your cheerfulness is embarrassing. Everyone was staring."

"…I don't think _anybody _was staring," Lu muttered, shutting up as Hopkirk shot him a glare.

Albus helped himself to some scones and fruit- not as good as home, but it would do- before replying.

"It's a… defense mechanism…?" Albus suggested, sounding more hesitant than he had wanted. "Yeah, exactly, I'm actually super nervous but I'm making up for it by acting cheerful. Cut me some slack."

"Whatever." Hopkirk rolled his eyes before proceeding to ignore Albus as best he could.

Well, personally Albus thought it was weirder to not be excited, but gee, what did he know.

Just as Albus was about to return to his breakfast, he spotted a small blond figure enter the Hall from the corner of his eye. It was Malfoy. Grinning, Albus hopped up from the table and walked towards him.

Albus opened his mouth to call out to him.

"Hey, Mal-"

"- Who's this?"

Someone grabbed his left arm with an uncomfortably strong grip. Albus looked behind him, glaring up at his assailant. It was a brunet Gryffindor, third or fourth-year at most. Standing beside him was another unknown Gryffindor and… _Fred?_

"I think the ittie-bittie snake should go back to his den, hm?" Fred grinned, but there was no kindness in the smile; not like usual. Albus felt disconcerted.

"I was just-" Albus began. He tried to slip out of his assailant's grip, to no avail.

"Talking to Malfoy?" the third Gryffindor said mockingly. "I guess he _is _one of yours. Wonder how he managed to get in here- did he bribe the Hat? That's all his family is good for, after all."

"That's not- well, I mean- you can't bribe the Sorting Hat," Albus said lamely.

"How would you know?" his assailant finally let go of his arm, only to give Albus a strong push towards the Slytherin. "Get lost and we won't do anything more, _this time._"

Gritting his teeth, Albus fought the urge to turn right around and march back. He had enough of a sense of self-preservation to stop himself, however. Not to mention, he didn't want to get into trouble on his first day.

He would have to talk to Malfoy about the book he had lent Albus later.

"Smart, real smart, Stevens," Mulciber drawled, walking up to Albus once he had sat himself back down next to Vance. It took Albus a moment to realize that she was talking to him. "As a prefect, I guess I have the responsibility to inform all the rest of you stupid first-years to not try a stunt like that. I don't know how you know Malfoy, but you probably just made a bad situation worse for him."

"What do you-"

"I'm gonna say this in small words so you can understand," she said, exasperated. "For Gryffindor, Slytherin equals bad, and Malfoy equals bad. Therefore, Slytherin plus Malfoy equals double bad. Bad things need to be… taken care of. You get my gist? Great. I'm giving you leeway because it's your first day and I'm nice, but other people won't be so lenient."

"_Taken care of?_" Albus repeated incredulously. "How-"

"-I've wasted enough time on first-years and Flitwick is coming around with the schedules. Toodles."

Mulciber strode back to the other fifth-years. Albus turned to his fellow first-years, hoping they'd have an answer.

"What'd she mean by _taken care of_?" Albus demanded.

"Malfoy's probably just gonna be pushed around a bit," Dolohov said, popping a grape into her mouth. "It would be too difficult to cover up a death, even Malfoy's."

Merlin, James had said that things were bad for Slytherins, but…

Albus was beginning to wish he had been able to convince the Sorting Hat to put him somewhere else. Or had been able to talk to the Sorting Hat at all, really.

"But he's not even a Slytherin," Albus said weakly.

"Sins of the father," Dolohov replied, her voice sounding a bit tight. "Ironically, your Muggleborn status is one thing you have over the rest of us. At least, as far as the rest of Hogwarts is concerned. Along with Emily, of course."

She nodded at the other first-year Slytherin girl. So Emily Wilbur was a Muggleborn- the only real Muggleborn in Slytherin, then.

"I thought we weren't going to talk blood status," Vance cut in suddenly, a scowl on his face.

Dolohov rolled her eyes. "Sod off, Vance, I'm saying something positive."

"Your whole holier than thou attitude is getting real old, real fast, y'know," Hopkirk said, irritated. "You're a _pureblood, _in case you forgot- the rest of us, except for Dolohov I guess, are all half-bloods or Muggleborn."

"Actually, I'm technically half-blood too," Dolohov added in helpfully. "My grandfather on my mother's side was Muggleborn. A lot of families with Death Eater relatives tried to get good press after the war by marrying half-bloods."

Vance turned red. "Shut up! All of you, shut up!"

He stormed out of the Hall, the rest of the first-years watching him go.

"Um… do you think he remembers that he doesn't have his schedule yet?" Lu asked hesitantly.

"Not my problem," Albus said. He had decided to be nice to Vance, but that was only if Albus saw him in trouble with his family. Vance had really brought this one on himself, after all. "He'll figure out it soon enough."

* * *

Albus had initially been pleased to see that he had Potions first thing with Gryffindor. But then, he remembered Mulciber's words. If he wanted to talk with Malfoy, he'd be better off trying to find him when he wasn't around his Gryffindor classmates.

The number of Gryffindors outnumbered the Slytherins almost two to one. Albus quickly slid into a seat next to Lu, not wanting to be forced to pair with Vance once he returned. Hopkirk gave the two of them an irritable look as he sat down in a seat behind them.

The potions professor, whose name was Denise Boot, was a middle-aged tall witch with an unreadable expression. Albus had worried that Slytherins faced discrimination from the professors, but Professor Boot had been completely professional during the entire lesson. She hadn't even away points from Slytherin when Vance arrived late, saying that she understood that things were hectic on the first day.

It had been a pretty boring lesson, though- all about safety, for the most part. Albus hoped to do some actual magic in Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Ravenclaws.

He wanted to get a chance to talk to Rose beforehand, though- hopefully in a way that wouldn't connect him with Albus Severus Potter. Albus was sure that Rose wouldn't get into trouble for consorting with a Slytherin, not like Malfoy may have- Rose was a _Weasley, _after all.

Albus had an idea of sorts. A _cunning _idea, he was sure.

Upon entering the Defense room, Albus saw that it was set up with several long benches stretching across the room, with a desk at the front. The Defense professor- his name was Slinkhard, if Albus remembered correctly- sat behind the desk, his legs propped up onto it casually.

More importantly, Albus spotted Rose sitting on the edge of a bench in the middle of the room- quite far away from the Professor for a Ravenclaw. Still, that worked out fine for Albus; there was plenty of room for him to sit next to her, especially as the rest of the Slytherins filed in at the back of the room.

Albus initially sat on the other edge of bench, before slowly sliding towards Rose, one push at a time.

"What are you doing?"

Albus froze mid-slide.

"Um…"

Maybe gradually getting close to someone didn't work so well as a friendship technique when applied to physical proximity as opposed to an emotional connection. Though, Albus was sure that he would've been even more suspicious if he had just plopped himself down next to her.

"What do you want, an autograph from my uncle?" Rose said irritably, tapping her foot impatiently. Albus had known her for long enough to know that he should back off, now.

"No, I-" Albus held up his hands defensively, prepared to explain himself- that is, lie through his teeth. But Professor Slinkhard interrupted him, calling the class to attention.

Albus knew better than to bother a Ravenclaw during a professor's lesson, if all the stories he had heard about Ravenclaws were true. Unfortunately, as soon as the class was dismissed, Rose quickly disappeared.

He needed to work on his cunning.

* * *

Scorpius was having an _absolutely wonderful _time at Hogwarts, really. Being tripped and laughed at by half the school; Scorpius couldn't have asked for anything more.

What a laugh.

He had wanted to get into Gryffindor, and lo and behold, his wish had been granted. Scorpius understood the saying "be careful what you wish for" a bit better now.

Still, Scorpius knew he had to bear with it. Being Sorted into Gryffindor would go a long way to show he wasn't a Dark Wizard. Even Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff wouldn't have had the same effect.

He had sent a letter to his parents about his Sorting the day before. He rather hoped that he got a Howler over it. If his "Dark" parents were displeased with him, well, that obviously meant that he wasn't Dark himself, right?

Scorpius was sure that he'd be able to convince his House of his innocence sooner or later. It wasn't like he would be the first child of a Dark family to turn out good; Sirius Black came to mind.

Then again, everyone had been willing to throw him in Azkaban for over a decade, despite being innocent. He probably wasn't the best example of someone who had escaped their family's reputation.

"Hey! Malfoy!"

Scorpius stopped in the hallway, looking around furtively. It was nearing curfew, thankfully, so there wasn't anyone around.

Aside from Stevens, of course, who was running towards him.

"Yes?" Scorpius said politely. His voice came out more quietly than he had wanted. He mentally cursed.

He couldn't believe that the Muggleborn he had tried to befriend on the train had ended up a _Slytherin. _What were the odds? At least Stevens still called him by his last name, for whatever reason. It would help to convince the Gryffindors that he wasn't friends with a _Slytherin_, if it ever came to it.

"About that book you lent me…"

Oh, right, he had lent Stevens a book. It wasn't really that interesting, and he had read through it couple times already. Honestly, Stevens could keep the thing.

No, wait, he could use this.

"You can keep it," Scorpius said, waving a hand dismissively. "In return, though, promise to stop talking to me."

"I could buy that book myself if I really wanted to," Stevens objected. "That's a stupid deal."

Scorpius supposed that Stevens hadn't gotten into Slytherin for nothing.

"Look, I'll get into trouble if I'm seen with a Slytherin," Scorpius explained. "You don't want to be responsible for my gruesome and bloody death, do you?"

Stevens looked a bit pale. Great, he had hit a nerve.

"Fine," Stevens mumbled reluctantly. "I don't like it, but fine."

Why did Stevens want to be… friends… anyways? He was a Malfoy, hanging out with him would just bring Stevens trouble- even if he was Muggleborn, he could see that much, right? Maybe Stevens was actually a real Slytherin and wanted his help with Dark Arts.

Whatever. It didn't matter, not anymore. The problem was solved. Now he just had to figure out how to deal with the ten million other problems in his life.

"It's nearly curfew, so I'm going to head to the dorms," Scorpius said, turning around. He hadn't taken more than a few steps when Stevens called out to him again.

"Bye!"

Rolling his eyes, Scorpius lifted a hand in farewell.

* * *

Albus sighed. That could've gone better.

Still, Albus understood where Malfoy was coming from. He would listen; he wouldn't talk to Malfoy.

To talk- to communicate verbally.

Malfoy hadn't asked him to stop _interacting _with him, after all. There were plenty of ways to interact without talking.

Humming one of his favourite songs, he headed down to the Slytherin dorms.

* * *

**A/N: I hope to bring in the primary plotline next chapter.**


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